CANCER CONTROL PROGRAM: SUMMARY The Cancer Control (CC) Program fosters population sciences research that seeks to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality in South Carolina while providing novel, evidence-based cancer control interventions that can be applied beyond the state?s borders. Guided by two cross-cutting themes, cancer disparities and tobacco control, CC members have made marked progress in all areas. To address cancer health disparities, CC members es- tablished a precision medicine center to dissect and address the complex genetic, psychological, and social fac- tors impacting cancer disparities, established systems to increase the accrual of minority patients to clinical trials, and identified advanced glycation endproducts as a pharmacological target for a phase 2 trial in African Ameri- can cancer patients of low socioeconomic status. Advances in tobacco control include identification of neu- rocognitive mechanisms that increase smoking relapse risk, development of pharmacological strategies for smoking cessation, and implementation of an inpatient stop smoking service that reduces hospital readmissions. Co-led by Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD and Matthew J. Carpenter, PhD, national leaders in minority health and cancer disparities and tobacco control, respectively, the program comprises 25 population health and phy- sician-scientist faculty members from nine departments. Excluding career development and training grants, the annual total direct peer-reviewed funding base for the program is $4.4M, an increase of 37.5% since the prior renewal, with $1.6M from the NCI, $2.1M from other NIH awards, and $0.6M from other peer-reviewed sources. CC members foster collaborative research and lead several new large center awards and cooperative grants, including an NCI P01, NCI UG1, NCI U54, and an NIMHD U54. Through well-established training pipe- lines, members invest in mentoring and, as a result, six junior faculty hold peer-reviewed career development awards. During the past five years, CC members authored 183 cancer-relevant publications, of which 83% were collaborative with Hollings Cancer Center members in CC and other research programs. The exceptional quality of the program?s research is reflected by transformative insights into the causes of cancer disparities, discovery of molecular and behavioral risk factors underlying cancer susceptibility, and evaluation of evidence- based approaches to encourage tobacco cessation. These have been published in top-tier journals such as Lancet, Lancet Oncol, N Engl J Med, J Med Genet, Am J Respir and Crit Care Med, JAMA Psychiatry, J Clin Oncol, and Nat Genet. CC members launched innovative trial interventions in the areas of care delivery, pre- vention, supportive care, improved diagnostics, and survivorship, with 842 individuals enrolled in interventional studies in 2017. With continued strong faculty recruitment, mentoring of emerging independent scientists, and development of transdisciplinary team-based interprogrammatic initiatives, the CC Program is exceptionally well equipped to lead efforts in reducing the cancer burden in South Carolina.